Name

The Mongol Empire referred to itself as yeke Mongγol ulus ( 'nation of the great Mongols' or the 'great Mongol nation') in Mongol or kür uluγ ulus ( the 'whole great nation') in Turkic.

After the 1260 to 1264 succession war between Kublai Khan and his brother Ariq Böke, Kublai's power became limited to the eastern part of the empire, centred on China. Kublai officially issued an imperial edict on 18 December 1271 to name his realm Great Yuan (Dai Yuan, or Dai Ön Ulus) and to establish the Yuan dynasty. Some sources give the full Mongolian name as Dai Ön Yehe Monggul Ulus.

History

Pre-empire context

The area around Mongolia, Manchuria, and parts of North China had been controlled by the Liao dynasty since the 10th century. In 1125, the Jin dynasty founded by the Jurchens overthrew the Liao dynasty and attempted to gain control over former Liao territory in Mongolia. In the 1130s the Jin dynasty rulers, known as the Golden Kings, successfully resisted the Khamag Mongol confederation, ruled at the time by Khabul Khan, great-grandfather of Genghis Khan.

The Mongolian plateau was occupied mainly by five powerful tribal confederations (khanlig): Keraites, Khamag Mongol, Naiman, Mergid, and Tatar. The Jin emperors, following a policy of divide and rule, encouraged disputes among the tribes, especially between the Tatars and the Mongols, in order to keep the nomadic tribes distracted by their own battles and thereby away from the Jin. Khabul's successor was Ambaghai Khan, who was betrayed by the Tatars, handed over to the Jurchen, and executed. The Mongols retaliated by raiding the frontier, resulting in a failed Jurchen counter-attack in 1143.

In 1147, the Jin somewhat changed their policy, signing a peace treaty with the Mongols and withdrawing from a score of forts. The Mongols then resumed attacks on the Tatars to avenge the death of their late khan, opening a long period of active hostilities. The Jin and Tatar armies defeated the Mongols in 1161.

During the rise of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century, the usually cold, parched steppes of Central Asia enjoyed their mildest, wettest conditions in more than a millennium. It is thought that this resulted in a rapid increase in the number of war horses and other livestock, which significantly enhanced Mongol military strength.

Rise of Genghis Khan

Known during his childhood as Temüjin, Genghis Khan was a son of a Mongol chieftain. As a young man he rose very rapidly by working with Toghrul Khan of the Kerait. The most powerful Mongol leader at the time was Kurtait; he was given the Chinese title "Wang", which means King. Temujin went to war against Kurtait (now Wang Khan). After Temujin defeated Wang Khan he gave himself the name Genghis Khan. He then enlarged his Mongol state under himself and his kin. The term Mongol came to be used to refer to all Mongolic speaking tribes under the control of Genghis Khan. His most powerful allies were his father's friend, Khereid chieftain Toghrul, and Temujin's childhood anda (i.e. blood brother) Jamukha of the Jadran clan. With their help, Temujin defeated the Merkit tribe, rescued his wife Börte, and went on to defeat the Naimans and the Tatars.

Temujin forbade looting of his enemies without permission, and he implemented a policy of sharing spoils with his warriors and their families instead of giving it all to the aristocrats. These policies brought him into conflict with his uncles, who were also legitimate heirs to the throne; they regarded Temujin not as a leader but as an insolent usurper. This dissatisfaction spread to his generals and other associates, and some Mongols who had previously been allies broke their allegiance. War ensued, and Temujin and the forces still loyal to him prevailed, defeating the remaining rival tribes between 1203 and 1205 and bringing them under his sway. In 1206, Temujin was crowned as the khagan (Emperor) of the Yekhe Mongol Ulus (Great Mongol State) at a Kurultai (general assembly/council). It was there that he assumed the title of Genghis Khan (universal leader) instead of one of the old tribal titles such as Gur Khan or Tayang Khan, marking the start of the Mongol Empire.

Early organization

Genghis Khan introduced many innovative ways of organizing his army: for example dividing it into decimal subsections of arbans (10 soldiers), zuuns (100), Mingghans (1000), and tumens (10,000). The Kheshig, the imperial guard, was founded and divided into day (khorchin torghuds) and night (khevtuul) guards. Genghis rewarded those who had been loyal to him and placed them in high positions, as heads of army units and households, even though many of them came from very low-ranking clans.

Compared to the units he gave to his loyal companions, those assigned to his own family members were relatively few. He proclaimed a new code of law of the empire, Ikh Zasag or Yassa; later he expanded it to cover much of the everyday life and political affairs of the nomads. He forbade the selling of women, theft, fighting among the Mongols, and the hunting of animals during the breeding season.

He appointed his adopted brother Shigi-Khuthugh as supreme judge (jarughachi), ordering him to keep records of the empire. In addition to laws regarding family, food, and the army, Genghis also decreed religious freedom and supported domestic and international trade. He exempted the poor and the clergy from taxation. He also encouraged literacy, adopting the Uyghur script, which would form the Uyghur-Mongolian script of the empire, and he ordered the Uyghur Tatatunga, who had previously served the khan of Naimans, to instruct his sons.

Push into Central Asia

Genghis quickly came into conflict with the Jin dynasty of the Jurchens and the Western Xia of the Tanguts in northern China. He also had to deal with two other powers, Tibet and Qara Khitai. Then, he moved towards the west, gaining claim to parts of Russia, Ukraine, and whole countries in Central Asia, such as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and other countries.

Before his death, Genghis Khan divided his empire among his sons and immediate family, making the Mongol Empire the joint property of the entire imperial family who, along with the Mongol aristocracy, constituted the ruling class.

Religious policies

Prior to the three western khanates' adoption of Islam, Genghis Khan and a number of his Yuan successors placed restrictions on religious practices they saw as alien. Muslims, including Hui, and Jews, were collectively referred to as Huihui. Muslims were forbidden from Halal or Zabiha butchering, while Jews were similarly forbidden from Kashrut or Shehita butchering. Referring to the conquered subjects as "our slaves," Genghis Khan demanded they no longer be able to refuse food or drink, and imposed restrictions on slaughter. Muslims had to slaughter sheep in secret.

Among all the subject alien peoples only the Hui-hui say "we do not eat Mongol food". Qa』an replied: "By the aid of heaven we have pacified you; you are our slaves. Yet you do not eat our food or drink. How can this be right?" He thereupon made them eat. "If you slaughter sheep, you will be considered guilty of a crime." He issued a regulation to that effect ... 1279/1280 under Qubilai all the Muslims say: 「if someone else slaughters animal we do not eat". Because the poor people are upset by this, from now on, Musuluman Muslim Huihui and Zhuhu Jewish Huihui, no matter who kills animal will eat it and must cease slaughtering sheep themselves, and cease the rite of circumcision.

Genghis Khan arranged for the Chinese Taoist master Qiu Chuji to visit him in Afghanistan, and also gave his subjects the right to religious freedom, despite his own shamanistic beliefs.

Death of Genghis Khan and expansion under Ögedei (1227–1241)

Genghis Khan died on 18 August 1227, by which time the Mongol Empire ruled from the Pacific Ocean to the Caspian Sea, an empire twice the size of the Roman Empire or the Muslim Caliphate at their height. Genghis named his third son, the charismatic Ögedei, as his heir. According to Mongol tradition, Genghis Khan was buried in a secret location. The regency was originally held by Ögedei's younger brother Tolui until Ögedei's formal election at the kurultai in 1229.

Among his first actions Ögedei sent troops to subjugate the Bashkirs, Bulgars, and other nations in the Kipchak-controlled steppes. In the east, Ögedei's armies re-established Mongol authority in Manchuria, crushing the Eastern Xia regime and the Water Tatars. In 1230, the great khan personally led his army in the campaign against the Jin dynasty of China. Ögedei's general Subutai captured the capital of Emperor Wanyan Shouxu in the siege of Kaifeng in 1232. The Jin dynasty collapsed in 1234 when the Mongols captured Caizhou, the town to which Wanyan Shouxu had fled. In 1234, three armies commanded by Ögedei's sons Kochu and Koten and the Tangut general Chagan invaded southern China. With the assistance of the Song dynasty the Mongols finished off the Jin in 1234.

Many Han Chinese and Khitan defected to the Mongols to fight against the Jin. Two Han Chinese leaders, Shi Tianze, Liu Heima (劉黑馬, Liu Ni), and the Khitan Xiao Zhala defected and commanded the 3 Tumens in the Mongol army. Liu Heima and Shi Tianze served Ogödei Khan. Liu Heima and Shi Tianxiang led armies against Western Xia for the Mongols. There were four Han Tumens and three Khitan Tumens, with each Tumen consisting of 10,000 troops. The Yuan dynasty created a Han army 漢軍 from Jin defectors, and another of ex-Song troops called the Newly Submitted Army 新附軍.

In the West Ögedei's general Chormaqan destroyed Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, the last shah of the Khwarizmian Empire. The small kingdoms in southern Persia voluntarily accepted Mongol supremacy. In East Asia, there were a number of Mongolian campaigns into Goryeo Korea, but Ögedei's attempt to annex the Korean Peninsula met with little success. Gojong, the king of Goryeo, surrendered but later revolted and massacred Mongol darughachis (overseers); he then moved his imperial court from Gaeseong to Ganghwa Island.

Invasions of Kievan Rus and central China

Meanwhile, in an offensive action against the Song dynasty, Mongol armies captured Siyang-yang, the Yangtze and Sichuan, but did not secure their control over the conquered areas. The Song generals were able to recapture Siyang-yang from the Mongols in 1239. After the sudden death of Ögedei's son Kochu in Chinese territory the Mongols withdrew from southern China, although Kochu's brother Prince Koten invaded Tibet immediately after their withdrawal.

Batu Khan, another grandson of Genghis Khan, overran the territories of the Bulgars, the Alans, the Kypchaks, Bashkirs, Mordvins, Chuvash, and other nations of the southern Russian steppe. By 1237 the Mongols were encroaching upon Ryazan, the first Kievan Rus' principality they were to attack. After a three-day siege involving fierce fighting, the Mongols captured the city and massacred its inhabitants. They then proceeded to destroy the army of the Grand Principality of Vladimir at the Battle of the Sit River.

The Mongols captured the Alania capital Maghas in 1238. By 1240, all Kievan Rus' had fallen to the Asian invaders except for a few northern cities. Mongol troops under Chormaqan in Persia connecting his invasion of Transcaucasia with the invasion of Batu and Subutai, forced the Georgian and Armenian nobles to surrender as well.

Giovanni de Plano Carpini, the pope's envoy to the Mongol great khan, travelled through Kiev in February 1246 and wrote:

Despite the military successes, strife continued within the Mongol ranks. Batu's relations with Güyük, Ögedei's eldest son, and Büri, the beloved grandson of Chagatai Khan, remained tense and worsened during Batu's victory banquet in southern Kievan Rus'. Nevertheless, Güyük and Buri could not do anything to harm Batu's position as long as his uncle Ögedei was still alive. Ögedei continued with offensives into the Indian subcontinent, temporarily investing Uchch, Lahore, and Multan of the Delhi Sultanate and stationing a Mongol overseer in Kashmir, though the invasions into India eventually failed and were forced to retreat. In northeastern Asia, Ögedei agreed to end the conflict with Goryeo by making it a client state and sent Mongolian princesses to wed Goryeo princes. He then reinforced his kheshig with the Koreans through both diplomacy and military force.

Push into central Europe

The advance into Europe continued with Mongol invasions of Poland and Hungary. When the western flank of the Mongols plundered Polish cities, a European alliance among the Poles, the Moravians, and the Christian military orders of the Hospitallers, Teutonic Knights and the Templars assembled sufficient forces to halt, although briefly, the Mongol advance at Legnica. The Hungarian army, their Croatian allies and the Templar Knights were beaten by the Mongols at the banks of the Sajo River on 11 April 1241.

Before Batu's forces could continue on to Vienna and northern Albania, news of Ögedei's death in December 1241 brought a halt to the invasion. As was customary in Mongol military tradition, all princes of Genghis's line had to attend the kurultai to elect a successor. Batu and his western Mongol army withdrew from Central Europe the next year. Today researchers doubt that Ögedei's death was the sole reason for the Mongols withdrawal. Batu didn't return to Mongolia, so a new Khan wasn't elected until 1246. Climatic and environmental factors, as well as the strong fortifications and castles of Europe, played an important role in the Mongol's decision to withdraw.

Post-Ögedei power struggles (1241–1251)

Following the Great Khan Ögedei's death in 1241, and before the next kurultai, Ögedei's widow Töregene took over the empire. She persecuted her husband's Khitan and Muslim officials and gave high positions to her own allies. She built palaces, cathedrals, and social structures on an imperial scale, supporting religion and education. She was able to win over most Mongol aristocrats to support Ögedei's son Güyük. But Batu, ruler of the Golden Horde, refused to come to the kurultai, claiming that he was ill and that the Mongolian climate was too harsh for him. The resulting stalemate lasted more than four years and further destabilized the unity of the empire.

When Genghis Khan's youngest brother Temüge threatened to seize the throne, Güyük came to Karakorum to try to secure his position. Batu eventually agreed to send his brothers and generals to the kurultai convened by Töregene in 1246. Güyük by this time was ill and alcoholic, but his campaigns in Manchuria and Europe gave him the kind of stature necessary for a great khan. He was duly elected at a ceremony attended by Mongols and foreign dignitaries from both within and without the empire — leaders of vassal nations, representatives from Rome, and other entities who came to the kurultai to show their respects and conduct diplomacy.

Güyük took steps to reduce corruption, announcing that he would continue the policies of his father Ögedei, not those of Töregene. He punished Töregene's supporters, except for governor Arghun the Elder. He also replaced young Qara Hülëgü, the khan of the Chagatai Khanate, with his favorite cousin Yesü Möngke, to assert his newly conferred powers. He restored his father's officials to their former positions and was surrounded by Uyghur, Naiman and Central Asian officials, favoring Han Chinese commanders who had helped his father conquer Northern China. He continued military operations in Korea, advanced into Song China in the south, and into Iraq in the west, and ordered an empire-wide census. Güyük also divided the Sultanate of Rum between Izz-ad-Din Kaykawus and Rukn ad-Din Kilij Arslan, though Kaykawus disagreed with this decision.

Not all parts of the empire respected Güyük's election. The Hashshashins, former Mongol allies whose Grand Master Hasan Jalalud-Din had offered his submission to Genghis Khan in 1221, angered Güyük by refusing to submit. Instead he murdered the Mongol generals in Persia. Güyük appointed his best friend's father Eljigidei as chief commander of the troops in Persia and gave them the task of both reducing the strongholds of the Nizari Ismailis and conquering the Abbasids at the center of the Islamic world, Iran and Iraq.

Death of Güyük (1248)

In 1248, Güyük raised more troops and suddenly marched westward from the Mongol capital of Karakorum. The reasoning was unclear. Some sources wrote that he sought to recuperate at his personal estate, Emyl; others suggested that he might have been moving to join Eljigidei to conduct a full-scale conquest of the Middle East, or possibly to make a surprise attack on his rival cousin Batu Khan in Russia.

Suspicious of Güyük's motives, Sorghaghtani Beki, the widow of Genghis's son Tolui, secretly warned her nephew Batu of Güyük's approach. Batu had himself been traveling eastward at the time, possibly to pay homage, or perhaps with other plans in mind. Before the forces of Batu and Güyük met, Güyük, sick and worn out by travel, died en route at Qum-Senggir (Hong-siang-yi-eulh) in Xinjiang, possibly a victim of poison.

Güyük's widow Oghul Qaimish stepped forward to take control of the empire, but she lacked the skills of her mother-in-law Töregene, and her young sons Khoja and Naku and other princes challenged her authority. To decide on a new great khan, Batu called a kurultai on his own territory in 1250. As it was far from the Mongolian heartland, members of the Ögedeid and Chagataid families refused to attend. The kurultai offered the throne to Batu, but he rejected it, claiming he had no interest in the position. Batu instead nominated Möngke, a grandson of Genghis from his son Tolui's lineage. Möngke was leading a Mongol army in Russia, the northern Caucasus and Hungary. The pro-Tolui faction supported Batu's choice, and Möngke was elected; though given the kurultai's limited attendance and location, it was of questionable validity.

Batu sent Möngke, under the protection of his brothers, Berke and Tukhtemur, and his son Sartaq to assemble a more formal kurultai at Kodoe Aral in the heartland. The supporters of Möngke repeatedly invited Oghul Qaimish and the other major Ögedeid and Chagataid princes to attend the kurultai, but they refused each time. The Ögedeid and Chagataid princes refused to accept a descendant of Genghis's son Tolui as leader, demanding that only descendants of Genghis's son Ögedei could be great khan.

Rule of Möngke Khan (1251–1259)

When Möngke's mother Sorghaghtani and their cousin Berke organized a second kurultai on 1 July 1251, the assembled throng proclaimed Möngke great khan of the Mongol Empire. This marked a major shift in the leadership of the empire, transferring power from the descendants of Genghis's son Ögedei to the descendants of Genghis's son Tolui. The decision was acknowledged by a few of the Ögedeid and Chagataid princes, such as Möngke's cousin Kadan and the deposed khan Qara Hülëgü, but one of the other legitimate heirs, Ögedei's grandson Shiremun, sought to topple Möngke.

Shiremun moved with his own forces toward the emperor's nomadic palace with a plan for an armed attack, but Möngke was alerted by his falconer of the plan. Möngke ordered an investigation of the plot, which led to a series of major trials all across the empire. Many members of the Mongol elite were found guilty and put to death, with estimates ranging from 77 to 300, though princes of Genghis's royal line were often exiled rather than executed.

Möngke confiscated the estates of the Ögedeid and the Chagatai families and shared the western part of the empire with his ally Batu Khan. After the bloody purge, Möngke ordered a general amnesty for prisoners and captives, but thereafter the power of the great khan's throne remained firmly with the descendants of Tolui.

Administrative reforms

Möngke was a serious man who followed the laws of his ancestors and avoided alcoholism. He was tolerant of outside religions and artistic styles, leading to the building of foreign merchants' quarters, Buddhist monasteries, mosques, and Christian churches in the Mongol capital. As construction projects continued, Karakorum was adorned with Chinese, European, and Persian architecture. One famous example was a large silver tree with cleverly designed pipes that dispensed various drinks. The tree, topped by a triumphant angel, was crafted by Guillaume Boucher, a Parisian goldsmith.

Although he had a strong Chinese contingent, Möngke relied heavily on Muslim and Mongol administrators and launched a series of economic reforms to make government expenses more predictable. His court limited government spending and prohibited nobles and troops from abusing civilians or issuing edicts without authorization. He commuted the contribution system to a fixed poll tax which was collected by imperial agents and forwarded to units in need. His court also tried to lighten the tax burden on commoners by reducing tax rates. He also centralized control of monetary affairs and reinforced the guards at the postal relays. Möngke ordered an empire-wide census in 1252 that took several years to complete and was not finished until Novgorod in the far northwest was counted in 1258.

In another move to consolidate his power, Möngke assigned his brothers Hulagu and Kublai to rule Persia and Mongol-held China respectively. In the southern part of the empire he continued his predecessors' struggle against the Song dynasty. In order to outflank the Song from three directions, Möngke dispatched Mongol armies under his brother Kublai to Yunnan, and under his uncle Iyeku to subdue Korea and pressure the Song from that direction as well.

Kublai conquered the Dali Kingdom in 1253 after the Dali King Duan Xingzhi defected to the Mongols and helped them conquer the rest of Yunnan. Möngke's general Qoridai stabilized his control over Tibet, inducing leading monasteries to submit to Mongol rule. Subutai's son Uryankhadai reduced the neighboring peoples of Yunnan to submission and went to war with the kingdom of Đại Việt under the Trần dynasty in northern Vietnam in 1258, but they had to draw back. The Mongol Empire tried to invade Đại Việt again in 1285 and 1287 but were defeated both times.

New invasions of the Middle East and Southern China

After stabilizing the empire's finances, Möngke once again sought to expand its borders. At kurultais in Karakorum in 1253 and 1258 he approved new invasions of the Middle East and south China. Möngke put Hulagu in overall charge of military and civil affairs in Persia, and appointed Chagataids and Jochids to join Hulagu's army.

The Muslims from Qazvin denounced the menace of the Nizari Ismailis, a well-known sect of Shiites. The Mongol Naiman commander Kitbuqa began to assault several Ismaili fortresses in 1253, before Hulagu advanced in 1256. Ismaili Grand Master Rukn al-Din Khurshah surrendered in 1257 and was executed. All of the Ismaili strongholds in Persia were destroyed by Hulagu's army in 1257, except for Girdkuh which held out until 1271.

The center of the Islamic Empire at the time was Baghdad, which had held power for 500 years but was suffering internal divisions. When its caliph al-Mustasim refused to submit to the Mongols, Baghdad was besieged and captured by the Mongols in 1258 and subjected to a merciless sack, an event considered as one of the most catastrophic events in the history of Islam, and sometimes compared to the rupture of the Kaaba. With the destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate, Hulagu had an open route to Syria and moved against the other Muslim powers in the region.

His army advanced toward Ayyubid-ruled Syria, capturing small local states en route. The sultan Al-Nasir Yusuf of the Ayyubids refused to show himself before Hulagu; however, he had accepted Mongol supremacy two decades earlier. When Hulagu headed further west, the Armenians from Cilicia, the Seljuks from Rum and the Christian realms of Antioch and Tripoli submitted to Mongol authority, joining them in their assault against the Muslims. While some cities surrendered without resisting, others, such as Mayafarriqin fought back; their populations were massacred and the cities were sacked.

Death of Möngke Khan (1259)

Meanwhile, in the northwestern portion of the empire, Batu's successor and younger brother Berke sent punitive expeditions to Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Poland. Dissension began brewing between the northwestern and southwestern sections of the Mongol Empire as Batu suspected that Hulagu's invasion of Western Asia would result in the elimination of Batu's own dominance there.

In the southern part of the empire, Möngke Khan himself led his army did not complete the conquest of China. Military operations were generally successful, but prolonged, so the forces did not withdraw to the north as was customary when the weather turned hot. Disease ravaged the Mongol forces with bloody epidemics, and Möngke died there on 11 August 1259. This event began a new chapter in the history of the Mongols, as again a decision needed to be made on a new great khan. Mongol armies across the empire withdrew from their campaigns to convene a new kurultai.

Disunity

Dispute over succession

Möngke's brother Hulagu broke off his successful military advance into Syria, withdrawing the bulk of his forces to Mughan and leaving only a small contingent under his general Kitbuqa. The opposing forces in the region, the Christian Crusaders and Muslim Mamluks, both recognizing that the Mongols were the greater threat, took advantage of the weakened state of the Mongol army and engaged in an unusual passive truce with each other.

In 1260, the Mamluks advanced from Egypt, being allowed to camp and resupply near the Christian stronghold of Acre, and engaged Kitbuqa's forces just north of Galilee at the Battle of Ain Jalut. The Mongols were defeated, and Kitbuqa executed. This pivotal battle marked the western limit for Mongol expansion in the Middle East, and the Mongols were never again able to make serious military advances farther than Syria.

In a separate part of the empire, Kublai Khan, another brother of Hulagu and Möngke, heard of the great khan's death at the Huai River in China. Rather than returning to the capital, he continued his advance into the Wuchang area of China, near the Yangtze River. Their younger brother Ariqboke took advantage of the absence of Hulagu and Kublai, and used his position at the capital to win the title of great khan for himself, with representatives of all the family branches proclaiming him as the leader at the kurultai in Karakorum. When Kublai learned of this, he summoned his own kurultai at Kaiping, and nearly all the senior princes and great noyans in North China and Manchuria supported his own candidacy over that of Ariqboke.

Mongolian Civil War

Battles ensued between the armies of Kublai and those of his brother Ariqboke, which included forces still loyal to Möngke's previous administration. Kublai's army easily eliminated Ariqboke's supporters and seized control of the civil administration in southern Mongolia. Further challenges took place from their cousins, the Chagataids. Kublai sent Abishka, a Chagataid prince loyal to him, to take charge of Chagatai's realm. But Ariqboke captured and then executed Abishka, having his own man Alghu crowned there instead. Kublai's new administration blockaded Ariqboke in Mongolia to cut off food supplies, causing a famine. Karakorum fell quickly to Kublai, but Ariqboke rallied and re-took the capital in 1261.

In southwestern Ilkhanate, Hulagu was loyal to his brother Kublai, but clashes with their cousin Berke, the ruler of the Golden Horde, began in 1262. The suspicious deaths of Jochid princes in Hulagu's service, unequal distribution of war booty, and Hulagu's massacres of Muslims increased the anger of Berke, who considered supporting a rebellion of the Georgian Kingdom against Hulagu's rule in 1259–1260. Berke also forged an alliance with the Egyptian Mamluks against Hulagu and supported Kublai's rival claimant, Ariqboke.

Hulagu died on 8 February 1264. Berke sought to take advantage and invade Hulagu's realm, but he died along the way, and a few months later Alghu Khan of the Chagatai Khanate died as well. Kublai named Hulagu's son Abaqa as new Ilkhan, and nominated Batu's grandson Möngke Temür to lead the Golden Horde. Abaqa sought foreign alliances, such as attempting to form a Franco-Mongol alliance against the Egyptian Mamluks. Ariqboqe surrendered to Kublai at Shangdu on 21 August 1264.

Campaigns of Kublai Khan (1264–1294)

In the south, after the fall of Xiangyang in 1273, the Mongols sought the final conquest of the Song dynasty in South China. In 1271, Kublai renamed the new Mongol regime in China as the Yuan dynasty and sought to sinicize his image as Emperor of China to win the control of the Chinese people. Kublai moved his headquarters to Khanbaliq, the genesis for what later became the modern city of Beijing. His establishment of a capital there was a controversial move to many Mongols who accused him of being too closely tied to Chinese culture.

The Mongols were eventually successful in their campaigns against (Song) China, and the Chinese Song imperial family surrendered to the Yuan in 1276, making the Mongols the first non-Chinese people to conquer all of China. Kublai used his base to build a powerful empire, creating an academy, offices, trade ports and canals, and sponsoring arts and science. Mongol records list 20,166 public schools created during his reign.

After achieving actual or nominal dominion over much of Eurasia and successfully conquering China, Kublai pursued further expansion. His invasions of Burma and Sakhalin were costly, and his attempted invasions of Đại Việt (northern Vietnam) and Champa (southern Vietnam) ended in devastating defeat, but secured vassal statuses of those countries. The Mongol armies were repeatedly beaten in Đại Việt and were crushed at the Battle of Bạch Đằng (1288).

Nogai and Konchi, the khan of the White Horde, established friendly relations with the Yuan dynasty and the Ilkhanate. Political disagreement among contending branches of the family over the office of great khan continued, but the economic and commercial success of the Mongol Empire continued despite the squabbling.

Disintegration into competing entities

Major changes occurred in the Mongol Empire in the late 1200s. Kublai Khan, after having conquered all of China and established the Yuan dynasty, died in 1294. He was succeeded by his grandson Temür Khan, who continued Kublai's policies. At the same time the Toluid Civil War, along with the Berke–Hulagu war and the subsequent Kaidu–Kublai war, greatly weakened the authority of the great khan over the entirety of the Mongol Empire and the empire fractured into autonomous khanates, the Yuan dynasty and the three western khanates: the Golden Horde, the Chagatai Khanate and the Ilkhanate. Only the Ilkhanate remained loyal to the Yuan court but endured its own power struggle, in part because of a dispute with the growing Islamic factions within the southwestern part of the empire.

After the death of Kaidu, the Chatagai ruler Duwa initiated a peace proposal and persuaded the Ögedeids to submit to Temür Khan. In 1304, all of the khanates approved a peace treaty and accepted Yuan emperor Temür's supremacy. This established the nominal supremacy of the Yuan dynasty over the western khanates, which was to last for several decades. This supremacy was based on weaker foundations than that of the earlier Khagans and each of the four khanates continued to develop separately and function as independent states.

Nearly a century of conquest and civil war was followed by relative stability, the Pax Mongolica, and international trade and cultural exchanges flourished between Asia and Europe. Communication between the Yuan dynasty in China and the Ilkhanate in Persia further encouraged trade and commerce between east and west. Patterns of Yuan royal textiles could be found on the opposite side of the empire adorning Armenian decorations; trees and vegetables were transplanted across the empire; and technological innovations spread from Mongol dominions toward the West. Pope John XXII was presented a memorandum from the eastern church describing the Pax Mongolica: "... Khagan is one of the greatest monarchs and all lords of the state, e.g., the king of Almaligh (Chagatai Khanate), emperor Abu Said and Uzbek Khan, are his subjects, saluting his holiness to pay their respects." However, while the four khanates continued to interact with one another well into the 14th century, they did so as sovereign states and never again pooled their resources in a cooperative military endeavor.

Development of the khanates

In spite of his conflicts with Kaidu and Duwa, Yuan emperor Temür established a tributary relationship with the war-like Shan people after his series of military operations against Thailand from 1297 to 1303. This was to mark the end of the southern expansion of the Mongols.

When Ghazan took the throne of the Ilkhanate in 1295, he formally accepted Islam as his own religion, marking a turning point in Mongol history after which Mongol Persia became more and more Islamic. Despite this, Ghazan continued to strengthen ties with Temür Khan and the Yuan dynasty in the east. It was politically useful to advertise the great khan's authority in the Ilkhanate, because the Golden Horde in Russia had long made claims on nearby Georgia. Within four years, Ghazan began sending tribute to the Yuan court and appealing to other khans to accept Temür Khan as their overlord. He oversaw an extensive program of cultural and scientific interaction between the Ilkhanate and the Yuan dynasty in the following decades.

Ghazan's faith may have been Islamic, but he continued his ancestors' war with the Egyptian Mamluks, and consulted with his old Mongolian advisers in his native tongue. He defeated the Mamluk army at the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar in 1299, but he was only briefly able to occupy Syria, due to distracting raids from the Chagatai Khanate under its de facto ruler Kaidu, who was at war with both the Ilkhans and the Yuan dynasty.

Struggling for influence within the Golden Horde, Kaidu sponsored his own candidate Kobeleg against Bayan (r. 1299–1304), the khan of the White Horde. Bayan, after receiving military support from the Mongols in Russia, requested assistance from both Temür Khan and the Ilkhanate to organize a unified attack against Kaidu's forces. Temür was amenable and attacked Kaidu a year later. After a bloody battle with Temür's armies near the Zawkhan River in 1301, Kaidu died and was succeeded by Duwa.

Duwa was challenged by Kaidu's son Chapar, but with the assistance of Temür, Duwa defeated the Ögedeids. Tokhta of the Golden Horde, also seeking a general peace, sent 20,000 men to buttress the Yuan frontier. Tokhta died in 1312, though, and was succeeded by Ozbeg (r. 1313–41), who seized the throne of the Golden Horde and persecuted non-Muslim Mongols. The Yuan's influence on the Horde was largely reversed and border clashes between Mongol states resumed. Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan's envoys backed Tokhta's son against Ozbeg.

In the Chagatai Khanate, Esen Buqa I (r. 1309–1318) was enthroned as khan after suppressing a sudden rebellion by Ögedei's descendants and driving Chapar into exile. The Yuan and Ilkhanid armies eventually attacked the Chagatai Khanate. Recognising the potential economic benefits and the Genghisid legacy, Ozbeg reopened friendly relations with the Yuan in 1326. He strengthened ties with the Muslim world as well, building mosques and other elaborate structures such as baths. By the second decade of the 14th century, Mongol invasions had further decreased. In 1323, Abu Said Khan (r. 1316–35) of the Ilkhanate signed a peace treaty with Egypt. At his request, the Yuan court awarded his custodian Chupan the title of commander-in-chief of all Mongol khanates, but Chupan died in late 1327.

Civil war erupted in the Yuan dynasty in 1328–29. After the death of Yesün Temür in 1328, Tugh Temür became the new leader in Khanbaliq, while Yesün Temür's son Ragibagh succeeded to the throne in Shangdu, leading to the civil war known as the War of the Two Capitals. Tugh Temür defeated Ragibagh, but the Chagatai khan Eljigidey (r. 1326–29) supported Kusala, elder brother of Tugh Temür, as great khan. He invaded with a commanding force, and Tugh Temür abdicated. Kusala was elected khan on 30 August 1329. Kusala was then poisoned by a Kypchak commander under Tugh Temür, who returned to power.

Tugh Temür (1304–32) was knowledgeable about Chinese language and history and was also a creditable poet, calligrapher, and painter. In order to be accepted by other khanates as the sovereign of the Mongol world, he sent Genghisid princes and descendants of notable Mongol generals to the Chagatai Khanate, Ilkhan Abu Said, and Ozbeg. In response to the emissaries, they all agreed to send tribute each year. Furthermore, Tugh Temür gave lavish presents and an imperial seal to Eljigidey to mollify his anger.

Relict states of the Mongol Empire

With the death of Ilkhan Abu Said Bahatur in 1335, Mongol rule faltered and Persia fell into political anarchy. A year later his successor was killed by an Oirat governor, and the Ilkhanate was divided between the Suldus, the Jalayir, Qasarid Togha Temür (d. 1353), and Persian warlords. Taking advantage of the chaos, the Georgians pushed the Mongols out of their territory, and the Uyghur commander Eretna established an independent state (Eretnids) in Anatolia in 1336. Following the downfall of their Mongol masters, the loyal vassal, the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, received escalating threats from the Mamluks and were eventually overrun in 1375.

Along with the dissolution of the Ilkhanate in Persia, Mongol rulers in China and the Chagatai Khanate were also in turmoil. The plague known as the Black Death, which started in the Mongol dominions and spread to Europe, added to the confusion. Disease devastated all the khanates, cutting off commercial ties and killing millions. Plague may have taken 50 million lives in Europe alone in the 14th century.

As the power of the Mongols declined, chaos erupted throughout the empire as non-Mongol leaders expanded their own influence. The Golden Horde lost all of its western dominions (including modern Belarus and Ukraine) to Poland and Lithuania between 1342 and 1369. Muslim and non-Muslim princes in the Chagatai Khanate warred with each other from 1331 to 1343, and the Chagatai Khanate disintegrated when non-Genghisid warlords set up their own puppet khans in Transoxiana and Moghulistan. Janibeg Khan (r. 1342–1357) briefly reasserted Jochid dominance over the Chaghataids. Demanding submission from an offshoot of the Ilkhanate in Azerbaijan, he boasted that "today three uluses are under my control".

However, rival families of the Jochids began fighting for the throne of the Golden Horde after the assassination of his successor Berdibek Khan in 1359. The last Yuan ruler Toghan Temür (r. 1333–70) was powerless to regulate those troubles, a sign that the empire had nearly reached its end. His court's unbacked currency had entered a hyperinflationary spiral and the Han-Chinese people revolted due to the Yuan's harsh impositions. In the 1350s, Gongmin of Goryeo successfully pushed Mongolian garrisons back and exterminated the family of Toghan Temür Khan's empress while Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen managed to eliminate the Mongol influence in Tibet.

Increasingly isolated from their subjects, the Mongols quickly lost most of China to the rebellious Ming forces and in 1368 fled to their heartland in Mongolia. After the overthrow of the Yuan dynasty the Golden Horde lost touch with Mongolia and China, while the two main parts of the Chagatai Khanate were defeated by Timur (Tamerlane) (1336–1405), who founded the Timurid Empire. However, remnants of the Chagatai Khanate survived; the last Chagataid state to survive was the Yarkent Khanate, until its defeat by the Oirat Dzungar Khanate in the Dzungar conquest of Altishahr in 1680. The Golden Horde broke into smaller Turkic-hordes that declined steadily in power over four centuries. Among them, the khanate's shadow, the Great Horde, survived until 1502, when one of its successors, the Crimean Khanate, sacked Sarai. The Crimean Khanate lasted until 1783, whereas khanates such as the Khanate of Bukhara and the Kazakh Khanate lasted even longer.

Military organization

The number of troops mustered by the Mongols is the subject of some scholarly debate, but was at least 105,000 in 1206. The Mongol military organization was simple but effective, based on the decimal system. The army was built up from squads of ten men each, arbans (10 people), zuuns (100), Mingghans (1000), and tumens (10,000).

The Mongols were most famous for their horse archers, but troops armed with lances were equally skilled, and the Mongols recruited other military specialists from the lands they conquered. With experienced Chinese engineers and a bombardier corps which was expert at building trebuchets, catapults and other machines, the Mongols could lay siege to fortified positions, sometimes building machinery on the spot using available local resources.

Forces under the command of the Mongol Empire were trained, organized, and equipped for mobility and speed. Mongol soldiers were more lightly armored than many of the armies they faced but were able to make up for it with maneuverability. Each Mongol warrior would usually travel with multiple horses, allowing him to quickly switch to a fresh mount as needed. In addition, soldiers of the Mongol army functioned independently of supply lines, considerably speeding up army movement. Skillful use of couriers enabled the leaders of these armies to maintain contact with each other.

Discipline was inculcated during a nerge (traditional hunt), as reported by Juvayni. These hunts were distinctive from hunts in other cultures, being the equivalent to small unit actions. Mongol forces would spread out in a line, surround an entire region, and then drive all of the game within that area together. The goal was to let none of the animals escape and to slaughter them all.

Another advantage of the Mongols was their ability to traverse large distances, even in unusually cold winters; for instance, frozen rivers led them like highways to large urban centers on their banks. The Mongols were adept at river-work, crossing the river Sajó in spring flood conditions with thirty thousand cavalry soldiers in a single night during the Battle of Mohi (April 1241) to defeat the Hungarian king Béla IV. Similarly, in the attack against the Muslim Khwarezmshah a flotilla of barges was used to prevent escape on the river.

Traditionally known for their prowess with ground forces, the Mongols rarely used naval power. In the 1260s and 1270s they used seapower while conquering the Song dynasty of China, though their attempts to mount seaborne campaigns against Japan were unsuccessful. Around the Eastern Mediterranean, their campaigns were almost exclusively land-based, with the seas controlled by the Crusader and Mamluk forces.

All military campaigns were preceded by careful planning, reconnaissance, and the gathering of sensitive information relating to enemy territories and forces. The success, organization, and mobility of the Mongol armies permitted them to fight on several fronts at once. All adult males up to the age of 60 were eligible for conscription into the army, a source of honor in their tribal warrior tradition.

Society

Law and governance

The Mongol Empire was governed by a code of law devised by Genghis, called Yassa, meaning "order" or "decree". A particular canon of this code was that those of rank shared much the same hardship as the common man. It also imposed severe penalties, e.g., the death penalty if one mounted soldier following another did not pick up something dropped from the mount in front. Penalties were also decreed for rape and to some extent for murder. Any resistance to Mongol rule was met with massive collective punishment. Cities were destroyed and their inhabitants slaughtered if they defied Mongol orders. Under Yassa, chiefs and generals were selected based on merit. The empire was governed by a non-democratic, parliamentary-style central assembly, called kurultai, in which the Mongol chiefs met with the great khan to discuss domestic and foreign policies. Kurultais were also convened for the selection of each new great khan.

Genghis Khan also created a national seal, encouraged the use of a written alphabet in Mongolia, and exempted teachers, lawyers, and artists from taxes.

The Mongols imported Central Asian Muslims to serve as administrators in China and sent Han Chinese and Khitans from China to serve as administrators over the Muslim population in Bukhara in Central Asia, thus using foreigners to curtail the power of the local peoples of both lands. The Mongols were tolerant of other religions, and rarely persecuted people on religious grounds. This was associated with their culture and progressive thought. Some historians of the 20th century thought this was a good military strategy: when Genghis was at war with Sultan Muhammad of Khwarezm, other Islamic leaders did not join the fight, as it was seen as a non-holy war between two individual powers.

Religions

At the time of Genghis Khan, virtually every religion had found Mongol converts, from Buddhism to Christianity, from Manichaeism to Islam. To avoid strife, Genghis Khan set up an institution that ensured complete religious freedom, though he himself was a shamanist. Under his administration, all religious leaders were exempt from taxation and from public service.

Initially there were few formal places of worship because of the nomadic lifestyle. However, under Ögedei (1186–1241), several building projects were undertaken in the Mongol capital. Along with palaces, Ögedei built houses of worship for the Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, and Taoist followers. The dominant religions at that time were Shamanism, Tengrism, and Buddhism, although Ögedei's wife was a Nestorian Christian.

Eventually, each of the successor states adopted the dominant religion of the local populations: the Chinese-Mongolian Yuan dynasty in the East (originally the great khan's domain) embraced Buddhism and Shamanism, while the three Western khanates adopted Islam.

Arts and literature

The oldest surviving literary work in the Mongolian language is The Secret History of the Mongols, which was written for the royal family some time after Genghis Khan's death in 1227. It is the most significant native account of Genghis's life and genealogy, covering his origins and childhood through to the establishment of the Mongol Empire and the reign of his son, Ögedei.

Another classic from the empire is the Jami' al-tawarikh, or "Universal History". It was commissioned in the early 14th century by the Ilkhan Abaqa Khan as a way of documenting the entire world's history, to help establish the Mongols' own cultural legacy.

Mongol scribes in the 14th century used a mixture of resin and vegetable pigments as a primitive form of correction fluid; this is arguably its first known usage.

The Mongols also appreciated the visual arts, though their taste in portraiture was strictly focused on portraits of their horses, rather than of people.

Science

The Mongol Empire saw some significant developments in science due to the patronage of the Khans. Roger Bacon attributed the success of the Mongols as world conquerors principally to their devotion to mathematics. Astronomy was one branch of science that the Khans took a personal interest in. According to the Yuanshi, Ögedei Khan twice ordered the armillary sphere of Zhongdu to be repaired (in 1233 and 1236) and also ordered in 1234 the revision and adoption of the Damingli calendar. He built a Confucian temple for Yelü Chucai in Karakorum around 1236 where Yelü Chucai created and regulated a calendar on the Chinese model. Möngke Khan was noted by Rashid al-Din as having solved some of the difficult problems of Euclidean geometry on his own and written to his brother Hulagu Khan to send him the astronomer Tusi. Möngke Khan's desire to have Tusi build him an observatory in Karakorum did not reach fruition as the Khan died on campaign in southern China. Hulagu Khan instead gave Tusi a grant to build the Maragheh Observatory in Persia in 1259 and ordered him to prepare astronomical tables for him in 12 years, despite Tusi asking for 30 years. Tusi successfully produced the Ilkhanic Tables in 12 years, produced a revised edition of Euclid's elements and taught the innovative mathematical device called the Tusi couple. The Maragheh Observatory held around 400,000 books salvaged by Tusi from the siege of Baghdad and other cities. Chinese astronomers brought by Hulagu Khan worked there as well.

Kublai Khan built a number of large observatories in China and his libraries included the Wu-hu-lie-ti (Euclid) brought by Muslim mathematicians. Zhu Shijie and Guo Shoujing were notable mathematicians in Mongol-ruled China. The Mongol physician Hu Sihui described the importance of a healthy diet in a 1330 medical treatise.

Ghazan Khan, able to understand four languages including Latin, built the Tabriz Observatory in 1295. The Byzantine Greek astronomer Gregory Choniades studied there under Ajall Shams al-Din Omar who had worked at Maragheh under Tusi. Chioniades played an important role in transmitting several innovations from the Islamic world to Europe. These include the introduction of the universal latitude-independent astrolabe to Europe and a Greek description of the Tusi-couple, which would later have an influence on Copernican heliocentrism. Choniades also translated several Zij treatises into Greek, including the Persian Zij-i Ilkhani by al-Tusi and the Maragheh observatory. The Byzantine-Mongol alliance and the fact that the Empire of Trebizond was an Ilkhanate vassal facilitated Choniades' movements between Constantinople, Trebizond and Tabriz. Prince Radna, the Mongol viceroy of Tibet based in Gansu province, patronized the Samarkandi astronomer al-Sanjufini. The Arabic astronomical handbook dedicated by al-Sanjufini to Prince Radna, a descendant of Kublai Khan, was completed in 1363. It is notable for having Middle Mongolian glosses on its margins.

Mail system

The Mongol Empire had an ingenious and efficient mail system for the time, often referred to by scholars as the Yam. It had lavishly furnished and well-guarded relay posts known as örtöö set up throughout the Empire. A messenger would typically travel from one station to the next, either receiving a fresh, rested horse, or relaying the mail to the next rider to ensure the speediest possible delivery. The Mongol riders regularly covered per day, better than the fastest record set by the Pony Express some 600 years later. The relay stations had attached households to service them. Anyone with a paiza was allowed to stop there for re-mounts and specified rations, while those carrying military identities used the Yam even without a paiza. Many merchants, messengers, and travelers from China, the Middle East, and Europe used the system. When the great khan died in Karakorum, news reached the Mongol forces under Batu Khan in Central Europe within 4–6 weeks thanks to the Yam.

Genghis and his successor Ögedei built a wide system of roads, one of which carved through the Altai mountains. After his enthronement, Ögedei further expanded the road system, ordering the Chagatai Khanate and Golden Horde to link up roads in western parts of the Mongol Empire.

Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty, built special relays for high officials, as well as ordinary relays, that had hostels. During Kublai's reign, the Yuan communication system consisted of some 1,400 postal stations, which used 50,000 horses, 8,400 oxen, 6,700 mules, 4,000 carts, and 6,000 boats.

In Manchuria and southern Siberia, the Mongols still used dogsled relays for the Yam. In the Ilkhanate, Ghazan restored the declining relay system in the Middle East on a restricted scale. He constructed some hostels and decreed that only imperial envoys could receive a stipend. The Jochids of the Golden Horde financed their relay system by a special Yam tax.

Silk Road

The Mongols had a history of supporting merchants and trade. Genghis Khan had encouraged foreign merchants early in his career, even before uniting the Mongols. Merchants provided information about neighboring cultures, served as diplomats and official traders for the Mongols, and were essential for many goods, since the Mongols produced little of their own.

Mongol government and elites provided capital for merchants and sent them far afield, in an ortoq (merchant partner) arrangement. In Mongol times, the contractual features of a Mongol-ortoq partnership closely resembled that of qirad and commenda arrangements, however, Mongol investors were not constrained using uncoined precious metals and tradable goods for partnership investments and primarily financed money-lending and trade activities. Moreover, Mongol elites formed trade partnerships with merchants from Italian cities, including Marco Polo』s family. As the empire grew, any merchants or ambassadors with proper documentation and authorization received protection and sanctuary as they traveled through Mongol realms. Well-traveled and relatively well-maintained roads linked lands from the Mediterranean basin to China, greatly increasing overland trade and resulting in some dramatic stories of those who travelled through what would become known as the Silk Road.

Western explorer Marco Polo traveled east along the Silk Road, and the Chinese Mongol monk Rabban Bar Sauma made a comparably epic journey along the route, venturing from his home of Khanbaliq (Beijing) as far as Europe. European missionaries, such as William of Rubruck, also traveled to the Mongol court to convert believers to their cause, or went as papal envoys to correspond with Mongol rulers in an attempt to secure a Franco-Mongol alliance. It was rare, however, for anyone to journey the full length of Silk Road. Instead, merchants moved products like a bucket brigade, goods being traded from one middleman to another, moving from China all the way to the West; the goods moved over such long distances fetched extravagant prices.

After Genghis, the merchant partner business continued to flourish under his successors Ögedei and Güyük. Merchants brought clothing, food, information, and other provisions to the imperial palaces, and in return the great khans gave the merchants tax exemptions and allowed them to use the official relay stations of the Mongol Empire. Merchants also served as tax farmers in China, Russia and Iran. If the merchants were attacked by bandits, losses were made up from the imperial treasury.

Policies changed under the Great Khan Möngke. Because of money laundering and overtaxing, he attempted to limit abuses and sent imperial investigators to supervise the ortoq businesses. He decreed that all merchants must pay commercial and property taxes, and he paid off all drafts drawn by high-ranking Mongol elites from the merchants. This policy continued under the Yuan dynasty.

The fall of the Mongol Empire in the 14th century led to the collapse of the political, cultural, and economic unity along the Silk Road. Turkic tribes seized the western end of the route from the Byzantine Empire, sowing the seeds of a Turkic culture that would later crystallize into the Ottoman Empire under the Sunni faith. In the East, the Han Chinese overthrew the Yuan dynasty in 1368, launching their own Ming dynasty and pursuing a policy of economic isolationism.

Legacy

The Mongol Empire — at its height of the largest contiguous empire in history — had a lasting impact, unifying large regions. Some of these (such as eastern and western Russia, and the western parts of China) remain unified today. Mongols might have been assimilated into local populations after the fall of the empire, and some of their descendants adopted local religions; for example, the eastern khanate largely adopted Buddhism, and the three western khanates adopted Islam, largely under Sufi influence.

According to some interpretations, Genghis Khan's conquests caused wholesale destruction on an unprecedented scale in certain geographic regions, leading to changes in the demographics of Asia.

The non-military achievements of the Mongol Empire include the introduction of a writing system, a Mongol alphabet based on the characters of the Uyghur language, which is still used in Mongolia today.

Some of the other long-term consequences of the Mongol Empire include:

• Moscow rose to prominence while it was still under the rule of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, some time after Russian rulers were accorded the status of tax collectors for the Mongols. The fact that the Russians collected tribute and taxes for the Mongols meant that the Mongols themselves rarely visited the lands which they owned. The Russians eventually gained military power, and their ruler Ivan III completely overthrew the Mongols and formed the Russian Tsardom. After the Great stand on the Ugra river proved that the Mongols were vulnerable, the Grand Duchy of Moscow gained independence.

• Europe's knowledge of the known world was immensely expanded by the information which was brought back to it by ambassadors and merchants. When Columbus sailed in 1492, his mission was to reach Cathay, the land of the Grand Khan in China, and give him a letter from the monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile.

• Some studies indicate that the Black Death which devastated Europe in the late 1340s may have traveled from China to Europe along the trade routes of the Mongol Empire. In 1347, the Genoese possessor of Caffa, a great trade emporium on the Crimean Peninsula, came under siege by an army of Mongol warriors under the command of Janibeg. After a protracted siege during which the Mongol army was reportedly withering from disease, they decided to use the infected corpses as a biological weapon. The corpses were catapulted over the city walls, infecting the inhabitants. The Genoese traders fled, transferring the plague via their ships into the south of Europe, from where it rapidly spread. The total number of deaths worldwide from the pandemic is estimated at 75–200 million with up to 50 million deaths in Europe alone.

• Western researcher R. J. Rummel estimated that 30 million people were killed by the Mongol Empire. Other researchers estimate that as many as 80 million people were killed, with 50 million deaths being the middle ground. The population of China fell by half during fifty years of Mongol rule. Before the Mongol invasion, the territories of the Chinese dynasties reportedly had approximately 120 million inhabitants; after the conquest was completed in 1279, the 1300 census reported that China's total population was roughly 60 million. While it is tempting to attribute this major decline in China's population solely to Mongol ferocity, today scholars have mixed opinions about this subject. Scholars such as Frederick W. Mote argue that the wide drop in numbers reflects an administrative failure to keep records rather than a de facto decrease, while others such as Timothy Brook argue that the Mongols reduced much of the south Chinese population, and very debatably the Han Chinese population, to an invisible status through cancellation of the right to passports and denial of the right to direct land ownership. This meant that the Chinese had to depend on and be cared for chiefly by Mongols and Tartars, which also involved recruitment into the Mongol army. Other historians such as William McNeill and David O. Morgan argue that the bubonic plague was the main factor behind China's demographic decline during this period.

• The Islamic world was subjected to massive changes as a result of the Mongol invasions. The population of the Iranian plateau suffered from widespread disease and famine, resulting in the death of up to three-quarters of its population, possibly 10 to 15 million people. Historian Steven Ward estimates that Iran's population did not reach its pre-Mongol levels again until the mid-20th century.

• David Nicole states in The Mongol Warlords, "terror and mass extermination of anyone opposing them was a well tested Mongol tactic." About half of the Russian population may have died during the invasion. However, Colin McEvedy in Atlas of World Population History, 1978 estimates the population of Russia-in-Europe dropped from 7.5 million prior to the invasion to 7 million afterward. Historians estimate that up to half of Hungary's two million population were victims of the Mongol invasion. Historian Andrea Peto says that Rogerius, an eyewitness, said that "the Mongols killed everybody regardless of gender or age" and "the Mongols especially 'found pleasure' in humiliating women."

• One of the more successful tactics employed by the Mongols was to wipe out urban populations that refused to surrender. During the Mongol invasion of Rus', almost all major cities were destroyed. If they chose to submit, the people were generally spared, though this was not guaranteed. For example, the city of Hamadan in modern-day Iran was destroyed and every man, woman, and child executed by Mongol general Subadai, after surrendering to him but failing to have enough provisions for his Mongol scouting force. Several days after the initial razing of the city, Subadai sent a force back to the burning ruins and the site of the massacre to kill any inhabitants of the city who had been away at the time of the initial slaughter and had returned in the meantime. Mongolian armies made use of local peoples and their soldiers, often incorporating them into their armies. Prisoners of war sometimes were given the choice between death and becoming part of the Mongol army to aid in future conquests. Due to the brutal methods employed to subdue their subjects, Mongols maintained long lasting resentment from those they conquered. This resentment towards the Mongol rule has been highlighted as a cause for the empire's rapid fracturing. In addition to intimidation tactics, the rapid expansion of the empire was facilitated by military hardiness (especially during bitterly cold winters), military skill, meritocracy, and discipline.

• The Crimean Khanate and other descendants, such as the Mughal royal family of South Asia, are descended from Genghis Khan: Babur's mother was a descendant, whereas his father was directly descended from Timur (Tamerlane). The word "Mughol" is a Persian word for Mongol.

• The Kalmyks were the last Mongol nomads to penetrate European territory, having migrated to Europe from Central Asia at the turn of the 17th century. In the winter of 1770–1771, approximately 200,000 Kalmyks began the journey from their pastures on the left bank of the Volga River to Dzungaria, through the territories of their Kazakh and Kyrgyz enemies. After several months of travel, only one-third of the original group reached Dzungaria in northwest China.

• Some Turko-Mongol Khanates lasted into recent centuries: The Crimean Khanate lasted until 1783; the Khanate of Bukhara lasted until 1920; the Kazakh Khanate lasted until 1847; the Khanate of Kokand lasted until 1876; and the Khanate of Khiva survived as a Russian protectorate until 1917.

蒙古源流

源出室韋

蒙古之名，最早見于唐代。時在狃越河（即今洮兒河）以北，西至俱輪泊（今呼倫湖）周圍，東至那河（今嫩江），北至黑龍江的地域內，分布著許多許多被統稱為「室韋」的大小部落。這些部落中有一大部稱為蒙兀室韋，居于今大興安嶺以北、額爾古納河下游以南。13世紀蒙古人自己的傳說把自己的祖居地仍稱為「額爾古納昆」，與古代史專記載相印合。南宋初洪皓《松漠記聞》首次指出：「盲骨子，《契丹事跡》謂之朦古國，即唐之蒙兀部。」

室韋諸部，本以漁獵為業。至唐末始越大興安嶺至其西草原，漸習遊牧。隨部落分衍，所占地盤逐漸擴大，有一部漸至三河之源的不兒肯山（即肯特山），成吉思汗所屬之乞顏（Kiyat）部即屬此部分。

蒼狼白鹿

根據《蒙古秘史》，蒼狼白鹿生下了蒙古人先祖巴塔赤罕，傳至十一代，有子二人傳到第十一代，有兄弟二人，兄都蛙鎖豁兒有四子，遷移出去成為朵兒邊部（Dorben，意為四）；弟朵奔篾兒幹娶豁里禿馬惕部女子阿闌豁阿為妻，生二子，其後裔各成一部。朵奔死後，阿闌豁阿感天光而孕，又生三子，長不忽合塔吉，後裔為合答斤部（名見《金史》，作合底忻），次不合禿撒勒只，後裔為撒勒只兀惕部（名見《金史》，作山只昆，元代又譯散只兀，珊竹）；幼子孛端察兒，後裔為孛兒只斤部，從這一支又分衍出約二十個氏族或部落。孛端察兒就是成吉思汗的十世祖，《元史·宗室世系表》稱為「始祖」。

阿蘭豁阿感天光所生三子之後裔稱為「尼倫蒙古」，即蒙古的尼倫部，其他則稱迭列斤蒙古。前者為蒙古人中高貴者，其中當然以黃金家族最為高貴，而後者則為一般蒙古人。這兩部分人是為蒙古的正源。

蒙古帝國前草原上生活的其他幾個其他部落是：克烈部、汪古部、乃蠻部、塔塔兒部、蔑兒乞部等。

• 克烈部：是遼、金生活在蒙古高原突厥部族。九世紀中葉隨黠戛斯南下的謙河地區部落，是回鶻汗國滅亡以後留居本土的遺民，遼金時期的突厥部族。任何有關蒙古人起源的傳說也與克烈無關。其居地在土拉河黑林、鄂爾渾河與克魯崙河之間。亦或譯作克列夷、怯烈、怯里亦、客列亦惕、凱烈等。《遼史》稱之為「阻卜」或「北阻卜」，亦作「達旦。

• 汪古部：古代文獻記載一般把汪古部記為沙陀突厥的後裔。

蒙兀王國

在遼代，蒙古各部為契丹皇朝大遼的臣民，受遼朝直接統治。1125年，金滅遼，並大舉南下，攻克北宋都城汴京，擄徽、欽二帝（參見靖康之恥）；然後繼續揮兵南下，直搗臨安。南方戰事緊急，金軍雖然捷報頻傳，卻也無暇北顧。于是蒙古草原上的孛兒只斤部落酋長合不勒趁機脫離遼朝自立，拓土開疆，威勢日盛，附近各族于是在1127年推舉他為蒙古部長，遂稱「合不勒汗」。

不久，金太宗完顏晟宣召他入朝，席間合不勒汗酒醉失態，冒犯龍顏，自此便與金廷構隙（實際上，金廷一直為蒙古勢力崛起感到不安）。合不勒汗回國後，金使前來誘他投降，他一怒殺死來使，整兵抗金。適逢金太宗逝世，熙宗即位。合不勒汗起兵連寇金邊，陸續攻取了金朝的西平、河北等二十七團寨。金朝既而又遣名將兀朮（完顏宗弼）出征蒙古，兩年未分勝負，于1148年與合不勒汗議和，割二十七團寨，歲給衣食，並冊封合不勒為「蒙兀國王」。

合不勒死後，王位傳于堂弟俺巴孩。金國由于內部虛弱，急切地想要削弱蒙古人的力量，遂決定在蒙古與塔塔兒（可能並非今日之「塔塔爾族」）兩部落之間構隙。時塔塔兒部落的一個巫醫療死蒙兀部落一親眷，被俺巴孩族人斬首。塔塔兒人興兵複仇，戰敗，遂佯裝乞和，藉機擄走了俺巴孩父子數人。為發洩怨氣，塔塔兒人竟將俺巴孩釘在木驢上遊街，最後俺巴孩慘死。兩族從此結下恩怨（一說「巫醫事件」發生在合不勒汗時期，後俺巴孩即位，與合不勒的一個兒子一起帶女兒去塔塔兒部聯姻，結果途中被捕，被送交金廷，被金廷釘死于木驢）。

俺巴孩汗死之前，曾遺命其子合達安為其：「今後以我為戒，你們將五個指甲磨盡，便壞了十個指頭，也與我每報仇。」。其繼任者忽圖剌汗（合不勒汗第四子），與合達安發起複仇戰爭。戰爭中忽圖剌汗之侄也速該嶄露頭角，擊敗了塔塔兒人。他的妻子訶額崙在戰鬥中生下了一個孩子，此時正好俘獲一個叫帖木真兀格的敵方將領。為了紀念這次的勝利，也速該為這個孩子取名為鐵木真，即後來的成吉思汗。

1170年，也速該死于一場宴會，蒙兀王國遂分崩離析。也速該之子鐵木真也逃亡。

成吉思汗時期

1206年（金章宗泰和六年，宋寧宗開禧二年）春天，鐵木真獲得尊號「成吉思汗」，建國于漠北，國號「大蒙古國」。

蒙古人是塔塔爾、泰赤烏、蔑兒乞、乃蠻、克烈、汪古部、以尼倫和迭列斤兩大部落組成的蒙兀王國人的後代，12世紀初期之後，蒙古各部逐漸遷徙到蒙古高原，10世紀到12世紀，蒙古高原先後被于遼朝（契丹）統治和有時臣服于金朝，至1200年左右，隨著金朝的逐漸衰落及蒙古勢力的逐漸強盛，蒙古不再向金朝進貢，1206年，鐵木真統一蒙古各部，在斡難河（今鄂嫩河）源頭召開庫里爾台大會，即蒙古大汗位，號「成吉思汗」，國號「大蒙古國」（Yeqe Mongɣul Ulus）。

Flag_of_the_Mongol_Empire_2.svg|蒙古帝國的旗幟

Flag_of_the_Mongol_Empire.svg|另外一個蒙古帝國的旗幟

成吉思汗還頒布了大扎撒，作為蒙古帝國的成文法典，是世界上最早的憲法性文件。蒙古帝國的組織是十戶、百戶、千戶、萬戶、十個萬戶組成一旗，十旗組成一路，十路組成一州，十州一國。

1205年、1207年、1209年—1210年，鐵木真率軍三次征伐西夏，迫西夏國王李安全臣服，後在1211年—1213年、1214年—1219年再次派遣一支蒙古軍隊征伐西夏。

1211年八月，蒙古帝國傾國之力的九萬軍隊進攻金朝並在野狐嶺戰役擊潰金兵之後，在隔年傾國之力兵分三路攻入金朝內地，並在1213年—1214年迅速攻占了當時金朝的河北西路（真定府、大名府）、河東北路（大同府、太原府）、河東南路（平陽府）、河北東路（宣德府、河間府、彰德府）、山東西路（濟南府）、山東東路（益都府）、北京路（大定府）、東京路（錦州府、遼陽府），占領後進行了屠殺（投降歸順的除外）；其餘的州府縣亦均被攻占，並在1213年和1214年兩次率軍圍困金中都（今北京市）。混亂中，金朝皇帝衛紹王完顏永濟在1213年被殺，新立的皇帝金宣宗于1214年由于從霸州運送救援糧餉到中都的軍隊在河間府被蒙軍截擊，宣宗覺得中都不保了，于是宣佈遷都開封，木華黎統帥的蒙古軍最終于1215年5月31日攻占金朝舊都中都城。成吉思汗在此得到契丹人謀士耶律楚材的歸順。後來耶律楚材成為蒙古帝國的稅務官和宰相。

1218年，蒙古為了要消除敵人屈出律（時為西遼最後一任實際統治者），於是派遣哲別出兵二萬征滅被屈出律篡位的以伊犁河流域河谷伊塞克湖的納倫河河畔的虎思斡耳朵（今托克馬克）為首都的西遼政權。

1217年，由於花剌子模沙朝邊境城市訛答剌的城主海兒汗亦納勒術私自扣留並處決了鐵木真的大蒙古國派遣去十餘人的商隊，當時正在東亞進行蒙古金朝戰爭的鐵木真原本不計劃徵發侵滅花剌子模沙朝，于是鐵木真再次派遣了以一個正使和兩個副使組成的使節團再次前去花剌子模沙朝要求當時的沙阿阿拉烏丁·摩訶末調查此事和懲罰兇手海兒汗亦納勒術，但是這一次由于當時花剌子模沙朝的沙阿阿拉烏丁·摩訶末的母親—康里人—圖兒幹合敦在舊都玉龍傑赤令立朝廷，企圖幹預國政，並且海兒汗亦納勒術是圖兒幹合敦的侄子，所以沙阿阿拉烏丁·摩訶末也無法管制，于是海爾汗亦納勒術再次自作主張，處決了這一次鐵木真再次派遣去的以一個正使和兩個副使組成的使節團的兩個副使以外的所有成員，並燒掉了副使的鬍鬚，于是鐵木真決定暫緩東亞的蒙古金朝戰爭，故成吉思汗在1217年籌備多時之後，親自統率十萬大軍在1219年底—1221年期間征伐侵滅花剌子模（蒙古征服花剌子模）（今中亞河中地區、阿富汗一帶），攻占四十個主要城池。

花剌子模沙阿阿拉烏丁·摩訶末在1220年被驚嚇而逃至裏海東岸的孤島病死。1220年鐵木真派遣手下兩員大將哲別和速不台統帥25000人的蒙古軍從撒馬爾罕州出發，繼續向西進軍，攻占了諸如：克里米亞蘇達克城〔今烏克蘭克里米亞蘇達克〕、奧可斯、木鹿、蘇薩、納西切萬、比特利斯、阿爾吉斯、蔑剌合、迪亞巴克爾、埃爾比勒地區、剛加、尼西比斯地區、阿尼、卡爾斯城、錫瓦斯、額爾哲魯木城、埃爾津詹、托卡特、開塞利城、起剌特、阿米德、保加爾人的卡馬突厥國、蔑怯思城贊瞻、剌夷〔今德黑蘭之南）、蔑剌合、圖斯、可疾雲、西模娘〔今伊朗德黑蘭省塞姆南）、沙馬哈、屠殺，投降歸順的除外，和進攻當時高加索的亞美尼亞王國、格魯吉亞王國、阿塞拜疆王國、羅姆蘇丹國（1221年－1222年）、之後哲別和速不台統帥的25000人的蒙軍折轉北向逾越太和嶺（今天叫做高加索山）的打耳班關隘，進攻當時的欽察人和保加爾人的卡馬突厥國、並在迦勒斯河戰役打敗基輔大公統帥的軍隊，之後繼續向西進攻，沿著今烏克蘭（當時這裡還不完全屬于基輔羅斯的疆土）一路殺掠到克里米亞半島，之後在此殺掠之後繼續向西折轉進軍到今烏克蘭西部的德涅斯特河，但是由于無法渡河，于是折轉東返，東北向進軍圍攻基輔羅斯的政治中心基輔，但未能攻陷，之後繼續東北向進軍，並相繼渡過德涅斯特河和頓河，于1223年9月征伐當時的伏爾加河中上遊河谷的伏爾加保加利亞王國，在此殺掠之後，相繼渡過伏爾加河和烏拉爾河，于後于1223年向東返與當時于1222年從印度河河谷率領蒙古軍主力撤軍北返，並北向經過當時的旁遮普、阿拉霍西亞、德蘭吉亞那、逾越興都庫什山脈、巴克特里亞之後渡過阿姆河並且穿越錫爾河和阿姆河之間的中亞河中地區（馬爾基安娜、索格狄亞那）于來到錫爾河河谷，于1223年在此匯合，並再次召開了一次覲見大典，當時有很多西方國家都派遣使者來于蒙古帝國交好，包括神聖羅馬帝國的教宗使者，之後于1224年的夏天來到額敏河和裕勒都斯河河谷，1225年的夏天回到蒙古帝國本土斡難河河源一帶和哈拉和林一帶（參見蒙古征服花剌子模）。

1225年，成吉思汗再次率軍征伐西夏，但是于1227年八月病死于六盤山，之後九月蒙古軍攻陷都城中興府，西夏末代國王李睍投降。此時，蒙古帝國包括今蒙古高原、今中國黃土高原、蔥嶺、滿洲平原、華北平原、中亞河中地區、阿塞拜疆以東的大伊朗大部。

另一方面蒙古人繼續征伐金朝，木華黎統帥的蒙古軍在1218年攻占太原府和平陽府、1220年攻占濟南府和益都府、1221年再次攻占了濮州、陝北保安和鄜州、1222年攻占長安、1223年攻占了寶雞、鳳翔和蒲州，1230年攻占了蒲中、潼關。

1231年，蒙古軍從關中地區進攻南宋的漢中，然後順著漢水流域而下，再折轉北向進攻金朝的河南地區，另一支蒙古軍則渡過黃河南下，1232年金軍在三峰山之戰慘敗，金哀宗逃到蔡州，蒙古和南宋聯合進攻金朝，最終蒙宋聯軍在1234年3月9日攻陷蔡州，金朝徹底滅亡。

成吉思汗之後的擴張

成吉思汗遺屬由窩闊台繼承大汗位，先由幼子拖雷監國，後在1229年最終召開庫利爾臺大會推舉窩闊台繼位。拖雷汗時代（1227年－1229年）加強對金朝的征伐。1229年，窩闊台繼任大汗，1231年征伐高麗王朝，1233年消滅東真國，1234年3月9日攻滅金朝。隨後再次西征；1236年打敗欽察突厥部落，1238年2月占領莫斯科，1240年12月6日占領基輔；之後兵分兩路入侵波蘭、立陶宛、摩拉維亞與匈牙利王國、保加利亞第二帝國、奧地利、原南斯拉夫大部分地區，大敗神聖羅馬帝國聯軍，前鋒進軍到波茲南、維也納近郊和亞得里亞海的東海岸（即威尼斯共和國的達爾馬提亞），歐洲為之震驚。正當此時，窩闊台逝世（1241年12月），遠征軍於是東還。

後來拔都于1242年在伏爾加河下游的薩萊城正式建立蒙古欽察汗國（又稱金帳汗國或朮赤汗國）。期間由綽馬兒罕、拜住、野里知吉帶、闊里吉思、阿爾渾八剌統帥的蒙古軍逐漸征伐和屠殺蹂躪亞美尼亞王國、格魯吉亞王國、科尼亞克蘇丹國和大部分小亞細亞。1246年8月24日，貴由在窩闊台的王后支持下繼位。拔都與貴由在長子西征以後不和，貴由在遠征拔都途中病死，拔都本有資格承繼汗位，但他無意即位，另舉拖雷的長子蒙哥為大汗。1251年，蒙哥繼位。1253年派遣忽必烈取道西康南下滅大理國。蒙哥命旭烈兀西征（旭烈兀西征1256年—1259年）；1258年，占領阿拉伯帝國首都巴格達，滅阿拔斯王朝。1260年，占領馬木留克王朝首都大馬士革。這時，蒙哥在攻打南宋四川時，在合州城下戰死，軍隊于是北還。

歐洲

成吉思汗死後其子窩闊台繼任蒙古大汗。1236年蒙古大軍開始進攻欽察和基輔羅斯；滅保加爾人的卡馬突厥國並摧毀其都城；攻占：蔑怯思城、里亞贊、科羅姆納、莫斯科（1238年2月）、蘇茲達爾、弗拉基米爾城、雅羅斯拉夫城、特維爾城、切爾尼戈夫、乞瓦基輔（1240年12月6日）、加利奇國、赫梅爾尼克、桑多梅日城、克拉科夫城、奧拉迪亞、瓊納德、佩斯城、科托爾等二十幾個城市。1240年12月6日成吉思汗的孫子拔都攻占基輔。1241年拔都率部入侵波蘭王國、立陶宛、摩拉維亞公國、保加利亞、匈牙利王國的達爾馬提亞和原南斯拉夫地區的拉什卡，直至在奧地利大公國的維也納近郊受阻于奧地利、波西米亞王國聯軍。波蘭和匈牙利的潰敗以及因神聖羅馬帝國轄下的諸侯國被蒙古人洗劫（摩拉維亞、奧地利和波希米亞），收到並無視了拔都的招降書的神聖羅馬帝國皇帝腓特烈二世認為蒙古下一個目標就是自己，於是開始調軍備戰並同時聯絡英格蘭王國及法蘭西王國求助。1242年春天窩闊台的死訊傳來，拔都和各支蒙古軍統帥班師回朝。這是蒙古大軍所到最西的地方。

中東

窩闊台死後經過乃馬真脫列哥那稱制、貴由汗和斡兀立海迷失的一共十年統治；1251年7月，成吉思汗的小兒子拖雷的兒子蒙哥繼位。1256年蒙哥派其弟旭烈兀西征。期間蒙古軍多次大舉征伐高麗國；1258年，西征軍攻占並洗劫了阿拔斯王朝首都巴格達，此戰役致使智慧之家被毀，大量寶貴文獻被扔進河中。1259年旭烈兀征敘利亞阿尤布王朝，1260年攻占大馬士革和阿勒頗。當年蒙哥在進攻南宋的四川時戰死（詳見釣魚城之戰）。旭烈兀回師爭位，之後留下的由怯的不花統帥的2萬蒙古軍隊在今以色列的加利利的阿音札魯特戰役敗于馬木留克王朝，標誌著蒙古帝國未能擴展到非洲。

東亞

窩闊台時，1229年至1234年，蒙古滅金朝。1231年蒙古進攻高麗王國，並迅速攻占除開最南端外的全部高麗王國領土，高麗王室退守漢城城外的海域附近的江華島，之後，高麗國分為主戰派和主和派，並且已經臣服于蒙古帝國；但是當時半島上的高麗三別抄義軍一直抵抗到1275年才臣服。窩闊台滅金之後，兵分三路大舉入侵南宋（窩闊台攻宋之戰），另一路征伐高麗國；但窩闊台于1241年12月去世，蒙古軍撤軍，之後所占疆土為南宋軍隊收複。後來經歷乃馬真脫列哥那、貴由汗、斡兀立海迷失的統治，期間對南宋的攻打限于邊境的侵襲戰爭；到1251年蒙哥汗即位，才開始再次大幅擴張。在旭烈兀西征的同時，蒙哥于1258年率三路大軍征伐南宋。1259年7月27日蒙哥在四川合州的釣魚城久攻不下，在一次戰鬥中中流矢受傷，不久就不治身亡了。正在進攻鄂州的蒙哥的弟弟忽必烈和從安南入侵南宋的兀良哈台軍遂北返，忽必烈在開平自稱大汗。在戰勝也自稱大汗的弟弟阿里不哥之後，1267年忽必烈開始營建大都，1285年建成。1271年改國號為大元，蒙古文稱為「大元大蒙古國」，是為元朝的開始。1264年至1279年，經過對南宋的多年征戰，元軍終于滅宋。至1275年高麗已臣服于元朝，成為其屬國。

蒙古曾于1257年征伐越南陳朝北部地區。滅宋之後，元朝軍隊又分別于1284年－1285年和1287年－1288年兩度攻打越南北部的陳朝和南部的占城（又稱占婆）。陳朝與其宿敵占城聯合擊退了入侵軍。1277年元軍開始進攻今緬甸北部的蒲甘王國；直到1287年元軍才攻入蒲甘王國首都，之後在1303年又撤出該地區。元軍于1292年至1293年對爪哇島發動的海上遠征也失利。

1274年和1281年，忽必烈兩次派軍征伐日本（文永之役、弘安之役），但均以失敗告終。一般認為颱風是造成失敗的最大原因。

帝國分裂

蒙哥於1259年去世後，其弟忽必烈與阿里不哥爭奪汗位（1260年－1264年）。忽必烈聽聞蒙哥汗死訊時尚在鄂州一帶與南宋作戰，後聽說留守蒙古本土的阿里不哥準備集會稱汗，立即與南宋議和之後北返回到開平（今內蒙古多倫縣），於1260年5月在以東道諸王塔察兒為首的蒙古宗王及漢人儒臣的支持下搶先集會稱汗。阿里不哥聞訊後，在阿速台、玉龍答失、海都等宗王的支持下於同年6月在當時的蒙古帝國首都哈拉和林召開「忽里勒台」大會，即大汗位。由於忽必烈長期居住在中原，任用漢人，推行漢法，改變蒙古人的遊牧傳統，引起很多蒙古王公貴族的不滿，故多數西道諸王當時均支持阿里不哥。為了爭取宗王勢力的支持，忽必烈默認朮赤後王別兒哥、察合台後王阿魯忽及八剌、六弟旭烈兀對各自封地的實質統治權（但名義上西北四大汗國依然屬于大蒙古國大汗的藩國）。忽必烈與阿里不哥隨即展開歷時四年的汗位爭奪戰爭。與此同時，別兒哥與旭烈兀等亦在高加索地區大打出手。這一系列戰爭標誌著帝國走向分裂。

忽必烈直到1264年才最終戰勝阿里不哥，隨後遷都大都（今北京），以上都為陪都。然而，支持阿里不哥的窩闊台汗國拒絕歸附忽必烈而實際上獨立。蒙古察合台汗國被忽必烈、阿里不哥、窩闊台汗國等勢力多次爭奪，後與窩闊台汗國的海都結盟對抗忽必烈。這兩個汗國位于今塔里木盆地、準噶爾盆地、中亞河中地區一帶、欽察汗國為朮赤之長子拔都在1242年正式建立，位于現在的東歐平原、南俄的北高加索、和錫爾河以北的中亞的一部分，基輔羅斯諸公國為其扶植的弗拉基米爾大公遙控的藩屬國。伊兒汗國為旭烈兀在1256年正式建立，包括大伊朗等地。欽察汗國在忽必烈與阿里不哥爭奪汗位時已實際上獨立，僅伊兒汗國承認忽必烈的大汗位，但在忽必烈去世後也獨立。造成蒙古帝國實際上的分裂。

1271年忽必烈在其領地內改國號為「大元」，建立元朝，蒙古文則稱為「大元國」（Dai Ön Ulus）或「大元大蒙古國」（Dai Ön Yeqe Mongɣul Ulus）。然而在此同時欽察汗國、察合台汗國、窩闊台汗國、伊兒汗國先後各自為政，拒絕承認忽必烈為大蒙古國大汗，直到1303年元成宗與蒙古諸王意識到，黃金家族的內戰是在破壞大蒙古國的基業，最終於達成和解，約定四大汗國名義上重新承認元朝皇帝為大蒙古國大汗，彼此間設驛路、開關塞恢復往來。元朝名義上保留朮赤汗和伊兒汗原本在河東路、河南等處領地，每年頒給歲賜。伊兒汗國作為附屬元朝的藩國，其君主即位仍需元朝皇帝遣使冊封，頒發「王府定國理民之寳」、「真命皇帝和順萬夷之寳」等漢文印璽。此後欽察汗國的數位君主，如脫脫（肅寧王）、月即伯等也得到了元朝皇帝的正式冊封。

後蒙古時代

東亞

從元成宗開始，政治就開始走向下坡。到元惠宗中後期政事已日漸混亂。1351年，劉福通率白蓮教教眾和被征挖黃河河道的河工起事，組織紅巾軍對抗元軍，開始了紅巾軍起義（參見元代民變）。1368年，漢人朱元璋滅亡元朝，建立明朝，八月攻佔大都，把蒙古勢力趕回長城以北，回到蒙古高原的蒙古政權繼續延用大元國號，史稱北元，至1388年去大元國號（一說或1402年去大元國號），而結束後衍生為韃靼和瓦剌。

隨著元朝敗退至蒙古高原，原本作為元朝藩國的高麗國王，因為與元朝皇室關係密切而派兵反明，結果被親明的大將李成桂回師滅亡，建立親明的朝鮮王朝，成為明朝的重要藩國。

中亞和歐洲

窩闊台汗國的領地在1309年被察合台汗國和元朝瓜分。

察合台汗國在1369年分裂，而伊兒汗國在1357年滅亡，最終均在1388年被又一個蒙古人建立的帖木兒帝國征服。帖木兒是西察合台汗國的中亞河中地區的渴石地區的蒙古貴族巴魯剌思氏的後裔，由於東察合台汗國後王黑的兒火者公主（鐵木真的直系後裔）被其納為妻妾，他宣稱自己是蒙古黃金家族後裔，又被稱為駙馬帖木兒。他在1369年自立為蘇丹，發動七次征伐東察合台汗國的戰爭後，迫使察合台汗國臣服，和在1381年—1387年征服在1357年滅亡後的蒙古伊兒汗國的衍生的幾個小汗國（卡爾提德王朝、丘拜尼王朝、莫扎法爾王朝、黑羊王朝、白羊王朝、札剌亦兒王朝），1391年和1394—1395年征伐欽察汗國脫脫迷失，征伐印度德里蘇丹國，攻陷德里、西面擊敗當時如日中天的鄂圖曼帝國蘇丹巴耶塞特一世（安卡拉戰役）和埃及馬木留克王朝。帖木兒帝國的疆土，鼎盛時東起印度德里和費爾幹納盆地，西至小亞細亞，北自鹹海和錫爾河河谷，南達波斯灣。1404年帖木兒率領20萬軍隊進攻中國明朝，結果在1405年進軍途中病死。帖木兒死後，其帝國分裂，1506年被突厥的烏茲別克部落昔班尼滅亡。帖木兒帝國不是蒙古帝國的一部分，但是屬于後蒙古人勢力，其疆土大多在原蒙古帝國的地方。帖木兒帝國滅亡後，帖木兒的後裔巴布爾于1526年征伐印度德里蘇丹國，建立莫臥兒王朝，自稱印度斯坦王，名義上存在至1857年，18世紀疆域大幅減少，最終被大英帝國征服。

欽察汗國到1480年或1502年分裂，克里米亞汗國存在到1783年，而阿斯特拉罕汗國、喀山汗國、西伯利亞汗國均最終在16世紀中被俄羅斯帝國全部占領。

對後世的影響

正面的看法

蒙古帝國在鼎盛時期統治從東亞到中亞、西亞、東歐的前所未有的巨大帝國。蒙古帝國的建立加速了東西方的文化、技術交流，促進了多民族的文化交流。整個絲綢之路第一次也是唯一一次被只有一個帝國控制，這使得東西方的商貿往來比其他分裂時期要容易得多。

負面的看法與相關異議

成吉思汗曾夢想「讓青天之下皆成蒙古人之牧場」。很多古代文獻都記載，在蒙古的擴張過程中，無數的古代文明遭到毀滅，無數城市被摧毀，根據R. J. Rummel估計，在蒙古帝國的入侵下有3000萬人被殺。在蒙古帝國對西方的擴張過程中有2,000萬人被屠殺；整個亞洲的人口分布亦發生重大變化。David Nicole 在The Mongol Warlords中說，「恐怖和大規模滅絕反對者是蒙古人屢試不爽的戰術」。伊斯蘭世界的東半部經歷了恐怖的死亡與毀滅。從1219年到1260年，由于大屠殺和饑荒，波斯的總人口從1200萬下降到110萬。在中亞河中地區和大呼羅珊，自希臘—巴克特利亞王國時期建立的水利灌溉系統被徹底毀滅，同時也伴隨著無數良田荒蕪和成為沙漠；在西亞，自阿卡德帝國和古巴比倫時期建立的水利灌溉系統被徹底毀壞，大量良田荒蕪。據統計，西亞地區的耕地面積至今未恢復到蒙古人入侵之前的60%。中亞、西亞及東歐至少七十多個城市遭到蒙古軍屠城，有的城市甚至被多次屠城，給當地人民造成巨大災難和痛苦記憶。歷史學家估計匈牙利王國（1241年—1242年）當時200萬人口中的一半死于蒙古入侵。基輔羅斯幾乎所有的城市均被摧毀，投降者作為奴隸，大部分因繁重的勞役很快死去，戰俘則加入蒙古軍隊繼續西征。其人口同樣有大約一半死于蒙古入侵。此外，Colin McEvedy的《世界人口史地圖集》（1978）估計俄國歐洲部分的人口從入侵前的750萬下降到700萬。中國地區的人口在蒙古入侵的七十年間明顯下降。在蒙古入侵以前（1200年），中國（包括金朝、西夏、南宋、大理國）人口約有1億4千4百萬，甚至更多，而到1278年（1279年完全占領）只有7,000萬人。但學術界今天對此也有不同看法，認為人口數量的劇烈下降同樣有人口統計的不完善和大規模遺漏或者蒙古軍隊帶來的傳染病的原因。

然而蒙元史學家傑克·威澤弗德（Jack Weatherford）指出成吉思汗允許民眾自由地傳播有關他或蒙古人的最壞的和最難以令人置信的傳聞，當時成吉思汗意識到，傳播恐怖的最好方式不是通過士兵的行為，而是通過文人的筆。蒙古人操縱宣傳的機器並且經常誇大戰爭中的死亡人數，意圖散播恐懼。他亦指出：「儘管蒙古軍隊實行的是一種前所未有的殺戮，並幾乎是將死亡當作一種政策，而且可以肯定的是，他們還將死亡當作是製造恐怖的一種思考方式，但他們卻以一種影響重大而又令人吃驚的方式，脫離了那個時代的普通慣例。蒙古人並不實施嚴刑拷打、毀傷肢體或使人殘廢。在那個時代，戰爭通常是以一種恐怖的形態來進行的，而且同時代的其他統治者，通過公開拷打或駭人聽聞的斷肢毀體方式，使用原始而又野蠻的策略，向民眾灌輸恐怖和驚悸……從中國到歐洲，文明世界的統治者和宗教領袖都依憑這些駭人聽聞的手段，通過恐怖來統治自己的民眾，通過驚駭來打擊敵人的信心。」；「與同時代文明軍隊的恐怖行為相比較，蒙古人並不是通過兇猛而又殘忍的行為來引起恐怖的，而是由於他們快速而又有效的征服，以及他們似乎完全輕視富人和有權勢者的生命而引起恐怖。」；「與傳播的恐怖傳聞相比較，起初向蒙古人投降的那些城市，得到了寬大而又仁慈的對待，於是那些城市居民就天真地懷疑起蒙古人的能力。投降之後，很多城市起初都忠順地服從，而一旦蒙古人離開他們的國家，他們就馬上反叛。由於蒙古人僅留下少數幾位官員進行管理，而且又沒有駐紮小部隊留守城市，居民們誤以為蒙古人的撤退是虛弱的表現，並且想當然地以為蒙古主力部隊將再也不會原路返回。對於這些城市，蒙古人是毫不留情的；他們迅速返回叛亂的地方，並徹底地摧毀它們。一個被徹底毀滅的城市是無法再次叛亂的。」

蒙古帝國和黑死病

通常認為，1346年，在蒙古欽察汗國軍隊進攻黑海港口城市卡法（又譯克法，現烏克蘭城市費奧多西亞）時，用拋石機將患鼠疫而死的人的尸體拋進城內，這是西方社會有紀錄以來第一次細菌戰。鼠疫原產中亞，其攜帶者是土撥鼠。在蒙古帝國之前鼠疫曾多次傳入中國，所以雖然中國也曾發生過地區性鼠疫傳染，但中醫在與鼠疫的反覆鬥爭中逐漸累積起經驗，而歐洲人則在此之前從未接觸過鼠疫。在卡法的一個熱那亞商人將帶病的跳蚤無意間帶到意大利的熱那亞共和國，于是鼠疫在歐洲廣泛傳播，最終在1348年—1349年造成2,000萬人死亡，成為令人聞之色變的「黑死病」，因為鼠疫患者皮下淤血、全身發黑而死。

也有一種說法認為鼠疫是絲綢之路上的商人把病菌帶到中東，然後又傳播到歐洲的。

1348年至1349年的黑死病使得當時歐洲喪失了三分之一的人口，對人的關心的人文主義隨之覺醒。歐洲人文主義文學的第一部代表作《十日談》就是薄伽丘在黑死病泛濫最猖獗的時期寫成的，描述1348年發生在意大利的可怕瘟疫。歐洲就此迎來了文藝複興的曙光。

對各國的影響

• 蒙古帝國橫跨東、中、西亞和東歐巨大的疆域。在蒙古帝國衰敗之後，前蒙古欽察汗國屬國的莫斯科公國崛起並占領了原屬于欽察汗國的相當一部分土地，成為後來著名的俄羅斯帝國。莫斯科公國統治者在蒙古欽察汗國時代曾長期把持了當時蒙古人遙控羅斯諸國的弗拉基米爾大公的位置，並代表蒙古進行收稅，進而抬頭，因為蒙古人很少視察他們占領的疆土。今天，世界上最大的國家俄羅斯大部分領土是當年的蒙古帝國的一部分。另一位歐亞主義哲學家特魯別茨科伊在他的經典著作〈論俄羅斯文化中的圖蘭成份〉指出俄羅斯帝國在消滅喀山與阿斯特拉罕後才成為強國。

• 中世紀伊斯蘭教中的激進教派阿薩辛派因為行刺蒙哥汗而與蒙古帝國交惡，最後被深受景教影響的旭烈兀滅亡,結束了該教派以暗殺進行恐怖統治的時代。

• 在歐洲，由于蒙古鐵騎連下數十城，占領多個國家，歐洲君主十分恐慌。後來在19世紀有了「黃禍」一說，一些說法認為泛指所有東亞黃種人帶來的威脅時，常回溯用于13—14世紀的蒙古帝國時期。

• 在日本，為了對付蒙古軍入侵而進行的全國範圍的改編使得其經濟和軍事都處於重壓之下，並且整個國家的資源使用已經到了極限。元軍入侵也使得日本幕府找到了繼續統治國家的藉口而不將權力交給天皇。他們之後一段時間繼續加強九州的防務，那裡的許多軍事設施很多年後還有效。由於戰後受貨幣經濟影響，幕府無法恩賞抗元官兵，加劇了國內矛盾。最終後醍醐天皇滅了鎌倉幕府。

• 在朝鮮半島，高麗王朝在蒙古帝國軍隊屢次大舉征伐後，歸順於蒙古，成為附庸國之一。蒙古人建立的元朝被漢人朱元璋滅亡後， 漢人脫離蒙古人統治，建立了新的王朝──明朝。忠於蒙古的高麗國王無法接受，遂派出將軍李成桂征伐明帝國。但是親近明帝國的李成桂從鴨綠江附近舉師回朝，兵變推翻高麗國，建立親明的朝鮮王朝。

其他影響

• 有學者發現，在蒙古、中亞附近，多達8%的男性人類是成吉思汗的直系後代，全球有至少1,800萬這樣的男子。

蒙元與中原王朝

元朝統治者在《元典章》中的《建國號詔》中向外宣稱大元是繼承於三皇五帝秦漢隋唐的新王朝。

從古籍中可見元朝統治者多次稱大元為「中國」：

至元二十七年，帝怒，欲再發兵，丞相完澤、平章不忽木言：「蠻夷小邦，不足以勞中國。張立道嘗再使安南有功，今復使往，宜無不奉命。」

元仁宗延祐元年，右丞相鐵木迭兒奏：「蒙陛下憐臣，復擢為首相，依阿不言，誠負聖眷。比聞內侍隔越奏旨者衆，倘非禁止，致治實難。請敕諸司，自今中書政務，毋輒幹預。又往時富民，往諸蕃商販，率獲厚利，商者益衆；中國物輕，蕃貨反重。今請以江浙右丞曹立領其事，發舟十綱，給牒以往，歸則徵稅如制；私往者，沒其貨。」

元惠宗至元元年，徐世隆奏：「陛下帝中國，當行中國事。事之大者，首惟祭祀，祭必有廟。」從之。

至元二年有日本僧告其國遣人刺探國事者。鐵木兒塔識曰：「刺探在敵國固有之，今六合一家，何以刺探為。設果有之，正可令睹中國之盛，歸告其主，使知嚮化。」

「諸下海使臣及舶商，輒以中國生口、寶貨、戎器、馬匹遺外番者，從廉訪司察之。」

注釋